Today, there are several different environmentally-friendly period products available and perhaps it is more relevant today to think about the impact on the environment than ever before.

An individual goes through approximately 11,000 disposable pads and/or tampons in a lifetime, multiply that number by everyone on this planet that gets her period and that equals a substantial amount of waste, Whilst the actual products themselves contribute largely to the problem, we should also take the lifecycle of the products into consideration.

First of all, we have the raw material extraction, which involves the production of cotton (a very water-intensive process; cotton is considered the world’s “thirstiest crop,” requiring six pints of water to grow just one little bud) and most use non-organic cotton, which has been saturated in pesticides and insecticides.

Secondly, most pads contain polyethene plastic (the adhesive that’s used to make the pad stick to your underwear), which is an environmentally harmful pollutant.

Most tampons contain a chemical called dioxin, chlorine and rayon. Whilst the products sit in landfills, these chemicals get soaked up by the earth and are released as pollution into groundwater and air. We don’t think any of the above substances sound like they should get anywhere near the most sensitive area on our body. So, if not for your health, perhaps you should consider switching to a more eco-friendly period product for the environment’s sake.

The number one reason and motivation for creatingTsuno was to find a way of generating money to put into educating women and girls living in poverty.

The empowerment of women in the form of the education of girls in the developing world holds among the greatest hopes as a driver of the eradication of extreme poverty, pulling close to a billion people from extreme hunger, lack of healthcare, gender inequality and vulnerability to environmental fragility on to the first rung of development, allowing for the greatest means of social mobility.

Why has Tsuno partnered with One Girl to give 50% of its profits?

With more than 60 million girls around the world are not in school, One Girl is on a mission to educate 1 million of them. One Girl gives girls in Sierra Leone and Uganda access to education, where up to 44% of girls are forced into marriage before they turn 18, teenage pregnancy is one of the most common reasons for dropping out of school, and more than 70% of people in Sierra Leone earn less than $2 a day.

But education changes everything.

For every year a girl stays in school, her income can increase 10-20%, she's less likely to be sold into marriage, and more likely to have a smaller, healthier family. The longer a girl is educated, the greater the benefits.

We have a goal for 2018 to raise enough funds via the sale of Tsuno products to direct $30 000 to One Girl and their programs, which has the potential to educate 100 girls for a year. So far from January till August 2018 combined we have donated just over $11500- enough to send 38 girls to school. We hope to grow this significantly over the next four months and would love your help by using Tsuno products and telling your friends to help make it happen. Thank you!